ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT OdESSA have a talent for coming back from the dead like the often recounted episode of their debut album being accidentally deleted from the studios harddrive upon completion (which brought them instant fame within the national music community for exactly the wrong reasons).
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that the hastily rerecorded album Oak Park Avenue (released September 2005) went on to achieve respectable word of mouth success, cracking the Indie top ten and hitting number 2 on the Heatseekers
chart in its first week, and was bestowed with generous reviews (The Sunday Star Times gave it four and a half
stars, breathlessly hailing its creators "...The band that can make all of New Zealand stand up and dance.")
The single Bring The Money Back became virtually inescapable during the next twelve months, included in countless short films, news stories and popular TV shows
(Outrageous Fortune, Insiders Guide To Love) and even across the Tasman on Australian sports highlights shows.
Second single Promises, Promises continued the momentum with director Simon Ward (Shihad, The Fanatics) winning Best Indie Video at the 2006 Juice TV Awards, while the video for cult hit Baby Don't Go Home by Grant Buist was a finalist at the 2005 Handle The Jandal awards.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that OdESSA had earlier triumphed with another peoples choice honour coming out on top of the polls for a Jack Daniels sponsored competition to win the opening slot of the 2006 Big Day Out ahead of 82 other bands they toured virtually nonstop between late 2005 and early 2007, playing over 200 shows during that period across the country with highlights including the celebrated A Low Hum tour with The Ruby Suns; playing to thousands lining the streets of Wellington for the premiere of
Peter Jackson's King Kong; a sensational performance at the 2007 bFM Summer Series; and, successive appearances for the Surf Aid Charity held at the Capital's Town Hall
alongside national luminaries such as Trinity Roots, The Phoenix Foundation and Opensouls.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that OdESSA boast one of the country's tightest, most widely respected rhythm sections in recent memory (Matt 'Puba' Swain on drums, Paul
Mouncey on bass) plus the jawdroppingly gifted guitarist (and newest member) Daniel Ryland, it is impossible not to notice the immediate, simple fact that singer Matthew Sean
Pender is a star – a brilliant, natural stage performer in the tradition of Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury or Prince.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that their songs cover virtually every imaginable genre from powerpop to bluesrock,
country folk to the sexiest, sweat-drenched funk jams
anywhere, (or in the words of bFM's DJ Rockpig "Funk with balls!") they rehearsed a new album's worth of material for new studio sessions in January 2007.
With Daniel Ryland now on board – whose guitar work on the album is some of the best you'll hear this year – and producer David Long (The Muttonbirds) the group worked up new songs and arrangements and completed tracking in just two and a half days, engineered/mixed by Mike Gibson (Hollie Smith & Steriogram).
SO, ASIDE FROM THE hundreds of acclaimed live shows, the awardwinning videos, the evergrowing army of devoted fans across the country, the setbacks and the comebacks; OdESSA have just completed their brand new second album, with stunning artwork by the formidably talented Simon Morse and Inject Design. It's called The Prize.
And it's the best thing they've ever done.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that the hastily rerecorded album Oak Park Avenue (released September 2005) went on to achieve respectable word of mouth success, cracking the Indie top ten and hitting number 2 on the Heatseekers
chart in its first week, and was bestowed with generous reviews (The Sunday Star Times gave it four and a half
stars, breathlessly hailing its creators "...The band that can make all of New Zealand stand up and dance.")
The single Bring The Money Back became virtually inescapable during the next twelve months, included in countless short films, news stories and popular TV shows
(Outrageous Fortune, Insiders Guide To Love) and even across the Tasman on Australian sports highlights shows.
Second single Promises, Promises continued the momentum with director Simon Ward (Shihad, The Fanatics) winning Best Indie Video at the 2006 Juice TV Awards, while the video for cult hit Baby Don't Go Home by Grant Buist was a finalist at the 2005 Handle The Jandal awards.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that OdESSA had earlier triumphed with another peoples choice honour coming out on top of the polls for a Jack Daniels sponsored competition to win the opening slot of the 2006 Big Day Out ahead of 82 other bands they toured virtually nonstop between late 2005 and early 2007, playing over 200 shows during that period across the country with highlights including the celebrated A Low Hum tour with The Ruby Suns; playing to thousands lining the streets of Wellington for the premiere of
Peter Jackson's King Kong; a sensational performance at the 2007 bFM Summer Series; and, successive appearances for the Surf Aid Charity held at the Capital's Town Hall
alongside national luminaries such as Trinity Roots, The Phoenix Foundation and Opensouls.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that OdESSA boast one of the country's tightest, most widely respected rhythm sections in recent memory (Matt 'Puba' Swain on drums, Paul
Mouncey on bass) plus the jawdroppingly gifted guitarist (and newest member) Daniel Ryland, it is impossible not to notice the immediate, simple fact that singer Matthew Sean
Pender is a star – a brilliant, natural stage performer in the tradition of Michael Jackson, Freddie Mercury or Prince.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT that their songs cover virtually every imaginable genre from powerpop to bluesrock,
country folk to the sexiest, sweat-drenched funk jams
anywhere, (or in the words of bFM's DJ Rockpig "Funk with balls!") they rehearsed a new album's worth of material for new studio sessions in January 2007.
With Daniel Ryland now on board – whose guitar work on the album is some of the best you'll hear this year – and producer David Long (The Muttonbirds) the group worked up new songs and arrangements and completed tracking in just two and a half days, engineered/mixed by Mike Gibson (Hollie Smith & Steriogram).
SO, ASIDE FROM THE hundreds of acclaimed live shows, the awardwinning videos, the evergrowing army of devoted fans across the country, the setbacks and the comebacks; OdESSA have just completed their brand new second album, with stunning artwork by the formidably talented Simon Morse and Inject Design. It's called The Prize.
And it's the best thing they've ever done.
Info from http://www.amplifier.co.nz/artist/2449/odessa.html?full=1